Future of Men

by Ira Matathia

Marshall McLuhan taught us the medium is the message. Perhaps even more profoundly, Oscar Wilde noted, "Life imitates art far more often than art imitates life."

As we started to put together The Future of Men, we couldn’t help but wonder, as both observers and practitioners of "the media," what role the media have had in both building and reflecting the archetypes of men, particularly in the 50 years since the advent of television.

In 1964, when McLuhan’s Understanding Media was first published, the five top-rated TV series were "Bonanza," "Bewitched," "Gomer Pyle," "The Andy Griffith Show," and "The Fugitive."

In terms of building and bringing male archetypes to the culture, these shows were the makers of men of those days. Those old enough to recall U.S. society circa 1964 know we were still reeling from the loss of a president to an assassin’s bullet—a circumstance made all the more violent and real by its being endlessly replayed on TV. JFK was our first "television" president, and the televised images of his death made the horror all the more vivid—certainly far more visceral than anything the "cooler" media of print and radio could have summoned. Yet even so, society of that time was relatively uncomplicated, and the "model" of daily life was the conventional suburban, patriarchal order of the post–world war era.
Four years after "Father Knows Best" had gone off the air, the top five rated shows gave us a range of views of the nascent stages of America’s "Great Society" and the role of the man within it:

"Bonanza" brought us the incredibly macho, salt of the earth, patriarchal Ben Cartwright. His youngest son, Little Joe, portrayed by Michael Landon, was a prototypical metrosexual: emotional, groomed, handsome, even soft. Hoss made up for in size and physical strength and good humor what he lacked in intellect, and eldest son Adam was the dark, mysterious (and responsible) second father in the family. Together, these four men provided a vision of what the male could and should be: honest, courageous, and true to his word. The ultimate gentleman and protector.

And then there was Darren Stevens. A mere mortal vainly struggling to maintain some level of authority in a world of witches and warlocks. Even as his devoted wife, Samantha, tried in vain to elevate him to head of household, we saw in Darren little more than a hackneyed adman caught between the immovable forces of his dismissive mother in law, Endora, and his mercurial boss, Larry Tate. The storyline more often than not revolved around Darren getting himself into (or being gotten into) some sort of pickle, which could only be solved with a wiggle of Samantha’s nose. Darren was always furious at having to be rescued by his wife’s charms, but she couldn’t resist the level of control her witchcraft ensured.

Gomer Pyle was introduced to us as a mechanic on "The Andy Griffith Show." His spin-off centered on the adventures of this sweetly innocent, but none-too-smart young man dealing with life in the Marines and, most particularly, with his loudmouthed superior, Sergeant Carter. Interestingly, this story about this gentle soul was initially passed up by CBS because the network feared its military setting would turn off female viewers.

Of course, the parent program, "The Andy Griffith Show," presented us with an anything but typical 1960s family unit. Andy was a widower, raising his young son, Opie (none other than media mogul Ron Howard), with the help of the doggedly matriarchal Aunt Bee. The absence of crime in the quiet town of Mayberry, North Carolina gave Sheriff Andy plenty of time to develop and articulate his homespun, down-home philosophies on life, with time left over for the occasional love interest and plenty of laughs with his irrepressible sidekick, Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife. Of all the leading TV shows of the day, this was perhaps closest to the archetype portrayed in "Father Knows Best." Sheriff Andy was a kind and loving father whose authority was unquestioned—by his son, by Aunt Bee, and, indeed, by the townsfolk.

The last show in the top five, "The Fugitive," began with a now-famous narrative voiceover: Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of Medicine. Destination: Death Row, State Prison.

Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men. And men are imperfect. Richard Kimble is innocent. Proved guilty, what Richard Kimble could not prove was that moments before discovering his wife's body, he encountered a man running from the vicinity of his home. A man with one arm. A man he had never seen before. A man who has not yet been found. Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time. And sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand…

Having escaped from a train wreck en route to the death house, Kimble engages in a lonely pursuit of justice—to catch his wife’s killer and clear his name—all the while relentlessly pursued by a police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.
A dramatic plot line, certainly, and one that was commonly believed to be based on the real-life Sam Shepard case, although this was consistently denied by series creator Roy Huggins. The show, according to Huggins, was actually influenced by his love of Westerns; he wanted to do a series about a modern character roaming the country in a similar fashion to the mythic cowboy. Adored by men and women alike, this complex, multifaceted character was a consistent ratings grabber; in fact, until the "Who Shot JR?" episode of "Dallas" in 1978, the "Fugitive" series finale was the highest-rated episode in the history of television.

So, what can we learn in 2005 through the lens of this series of decades-old television programming? For starters, the more things change, the more they stay the same. With the industry in one of its most prolonged box-office slumps, one of the most anticipated films of the summer blockbuster season is "Bewitched," this time played for maximum laughs by Nicole Kidman as Samantha and Will Ferrell as Darren. Clearly, of all the programming in our top five of 1964, not the most flattering portrayal of the contemporary male. "The Fugitive"? The theatrical remake with Harrison Ford is already more than a decade old, although we were also treated to a short-lived return to weekly television in 2000. "Bonanza"? Periodic updates in the form of made-for-TV movies, most recently in 1998, with the sons of the sons in charge of the Ponderosa. Andy and Gomer are long retired (though Andy seems to do a reunion show once a decade, last in 2003). But clearly, it is the more "unconventional" male role models that are resonating in Hollywood some 40–50 years later.

2005 also saw a remake of another TV classic, one aired in 1955–1956: "The Honeymooners." This time, the characters are African American, with Cedric the Entertainer in the role made famous by Jackie Gleason, but it remains true to the story of the working-class guy always trying to hatch a get-rich-quick scheme, only to fail and face the disdain of his clearly intellectually superior spouse. This basic relationship seems a relative constant in TV sitcoms, from the recently ended "Everybody Loves Raymond" to "The King of Queens."

So, as we confront the hype and hoopla of the hapless in the summer of 2005, is there a glimmer of hope for the modern male? Perhaps so. The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) reports a remake of "Father Knows Best" is in production, starring Tim Allen. The archetype of the all-knowing, strong, and kind male archetype is saved!
Or is it? Consider this plotline, as outlined on imdb.com:

Jim Anderson (Allen) is an insurance agent and single father living in Springfield, Ohio with his three children: Betty (17), Bud (14) and Kathy (9). This movie gets its start when Jim is entered in a "Father of the Year" contest by Bud, with his accomplishments as pater familias greatly embellished in the entry. When Jim actually wins the contest, he promises his kids that he will tell the truth and not accept the prize, until...he sees the beautiful woman who will be giving him the award, at which point he decides to try to pose as the perfect dad in the hopes of winning the heart of...the perfect mom...

What? Jim Anderson running a deception just so he can get a little? In that one plotline we see the essence of how the portrayal of males has changed in the past half century: from steadfast and noble protector and authority to needy and greedy little boy dressed in men’s clothing. Do today’s media images provide a glimpse of the true future of men? For men’s sake—for everyone’s sake—we trust not. It’s time for new media archetypes that better reflect the true nature of today’s male, in all his complexity.